Kyrgyzstan outstripped other countries in region in 2019 World Press Freedom Index

AKIPRESS.COM - The Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) has released 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
Uzbekistan has climbed from the 165th to the 160th place, having left the so-called black zone - countries at the bottom of the rankings.
Surveillance, censorship and self-censorship are still present and the authorities maintain a significant level of control over the media. Many news websites continue to be inaccessible, Facebook and YouTube were often blocked in 2018 and several bloggers were arrested. Uzbekistan has reopened its doors to foreign and exile journalists but very few permanent accreditations have been issued, according to the Index.
Kyrgyzstan is ranked 83rd, Kazakhstan 158th, Tajikistan is 161st. Turkmenistan is on the 180th place.
Norway tops the rankings. Finland and Sweden come next. Other top-10 countries of the rankings include Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, New Zealand, Jamaica, Belgium, Costa Rica.